The size and weight of small, unobtrusive devices is dominated by the size and weight of the internal circuit boards, the electrical components which are mounted on the surface of circuit boards, and by the energy storage devices such as batteries that supply the power to the various electronic components. The surface area of the internal circuit board is considered very valuable as there is only a finite amount of space for adding components. Of course, as components are added to the internal circuit board, the height and mass of the device increases.
In order to address the dimensional limitations of electronic devices, previous techniques, such as the use of thin film printing techniques as well as techniques for embedding electronic components in to a circuit board, have been developed to reduce the thickness of electronic components. However, previous techniques for embedding components have relied primarily on the addition of material around the discrete electronic components, thereby effectively building a laminated circuit board from the bottom up.
These prior art approaches are inherently limited as they require special development and optimization for each individual circuit design, involve a significant cost increase to circuit board manufactures and reduce the ability to add additional components to an existing circuit board or modify the circuit design.